Reality?
By PassionFish
A/N:
I'd like to thank my sister, who gave me this title - I think it fits
the story beautifully!
Time Line: Set at the very end of Season Seven. (A/N: Sorry if I don't
describe the beginning scene very well - I refused to watch the end episodes
after I realised they were 'killing' Spike off!)
A/N: BIG thanks to Marsters’ Girl for
beta-ing this fiction; and for her lovely review!!!
They were everywhere. Thousands upon thousands; surrounding her,
enclosing her, suffocating her.
Off to one side she could see Willow fighting,
Faith to the right, and Spike up front.
Her friends were somewhere, she was sure.
God knows how many she'd killed, how
long they'd been fighting.
Or how many of her charges were dead.
The air was thick with the scent of
blood. She could feel it pumping out
into the atmosphere, soaking into the surroundings.
And the screams...
She couldn't breathe...it was too much.
This couldn't be happening.
It was madness...none of this could be
real.
Her sword slid into the next body like
it was butter.
The demon dropped to the ground.
She moved on.
It was nothing.
It was normal.
It couldn't be real.
It just couldn't.
"This isn't life..."
They were coming for her, a least
fifteen charging her all at once.
This was ridiculous, improbable, not
real, fake, impossible...
No, no, no, no, no, no....
It was too hot, too stuffy, so much
blood, too much pain, too much fear...suffering, aching, dying, crying,
loathing, death, death, death...
"STOP!"
Her scream rang out through her own
head; her eyes were squeezed closed tightly, denying the reality of the
situation. Her sword dropped to the
ground and embedded itself in the soft soil below her feet, as she clutched at
her hair with frustrated hands.
And then there was silence.
Not a cry could be heard.
The air was dry.
She couldn't smell the blood on the
floor, in the atmosphere.
She couldn't sense anyone around her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, her hands
dropping uselessly to her sides, as she took in the scene in front of her.
Everything had paused.
Nothing moved.
Nothing breathed.
Nothing lived.
Nothing was real.
Her head shook in denial… This wasn't
real… This wasn't happening.
"Buffy?"
She spun round, expecting to see
someone behind her, someone moving, someone real, but no one was there...
Suddenly, the world cracked and she was
in a hospital ward, a strange man hovering over her bed.
She let out a little cry and stumbled
backwards, only to find herself back where she started.
She looked out at the battlefield to
see everything still paused in place.
Willow was in mid strike with the monster she was fighting, the blast of
magic shooting from her fingertips suspended in mid air. Faith had a chain around a demon's neck,
while her suspended foot held another one back. She could just about make out the smirk on Spike's face in the
distance...
But all was still.
It was like time had frozen them all in
place, but forgotten one slayer on the way.
"Come on, Lizzy...we can escape
now, there's no one about...promise..."
That voice again, clearer this time -
less of the wind.
Buffy shook her head to clear it, and
the hospital room appeared once more.
She gasped in fear, clutching the bed linen beneath her, with weak
fingers.
"Come on, pet..."
Spike.
It was Spike.
Spike?
How was he here? He was back there, fighting...she should be
fighting, they're going to loose if she doesn't keep fighting...
Got to keep fighting...
It's not real.
That voice, in her head.
"Just a dream, love..."
Her head turned, and she saw the battle
field once more, paused in all it's supernatural glory.
"You're not real." She whispered in realisation, and the image
shattered into a million pieces, leaving only that of Spike hovering over her
bed.
She looked up at him, recognition
flashing in her eyes and he smiled.
"They're asleep?" She
asked timidly.
"Yeah!" He whispered back, excitedly.
He held out his hand, and with a giggle
she took it, letting him pull her off the bed.
Her feet hit the cold, tiled, floor and she shivered. He noticed and wrapped his arm around her.
She smiled up at him, child-like exuberance
in her eyes, "Where shall we go, Will?"
He smirked at her and whispered into
her ear. She blushed, but eagerly
followed him out into the garden.
The moon was full in the night's sky,
bathing them in its soft, silver glow.
The stars appeared to wink at them as they ran, bare foot, across the
wet grass to their secret hiding place.
They came to stop near the old weeping
willow that proudly stood in the far reaches of the expansive garden. Spike reached out and pulled aside the drooping
branches, ushering her inside.
With a wide smile, Buffy slid onto the
swinging seat, curling into Spike's embrace as he sat next to her.
"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked innocently, pressing a kiss to the
top of her dull blonde hair.
"Yeah...” She snuggled closer.
"It’s all over now, love."
"Yep, all finished." She agreed.
And indeed it was.
Together, they slept; relieved of their
nightmares for one night at least.
--
"We better go and fetch them
back." Jane said softly to her
partner-in-care, Phil, after finding both Spike and Buffy absent from their
beds yet again.
"I'll come with you."
"Wouldn't expect anything less;
need you to help me pry them apart and remind them that breakfast is a necessity!" Jane smiled as she thought of her favourite
charges.
Neither needed to question where the
pair would be hiding. The old tree had
been renamed 'Lover's Rest' since the two had first laid eyes on each other and
claimed it as their private place.
"Have you noticed how they always
end up out here after one of them has a bad dream?" Phil, the second caregiver asked, as they
crossed the well-tended green.
"I think it's their way of dealing
together. They like it there because
it's closed off - just the two of them."
Jane smiled at the serenity of the thought.
"God, do you remember them at the
Ball?"
Jane laughed quietly and blushed,
"Which year?"
"I know, I don't think I've ever
seen any two people so devoted to each other as those two." Phil admitted.
"I'm glad they have each other
though. I never thought Buffy would
ever return back to us...” She looked sad for a moment. "She hated that place so much, but she
couldn't get her brain to stop...I thought she was making it better when she
'added' Spike, but it only got worse."
"Wasn't that around the time when
his sister had him transferred away to Oakham?"
"Yeah...” Jane took a deep
breath. "I'm just glad she's back
again - I love it when they get together...I never see them happy
otherwise."
"They bring out the best in each
other." He whispered, carefully
knocking on the third tree stump. He'd
been previously advised that this was the only polite way to go about entering
their 'nest'.
It was Spike that spoke, as usual he
was the first of the pair to wake, "She's not up yet. You can come in - we're decent."
Jane lifted her hand and pulled back
the soft branches, glad to find William in one of his more lucid moods; Buffy's
presence always seemed to have this effect on him. "It's time for breakfast."
"Already?" Buffy asked through a yawn, sitting up
slightly in Spike's warm embrace.
"'Fraid so." Phil confirmed with a kind but firm smile.
"Oh..." Buffy turned to face Spike, "We'll come
back later?"
"'Course, love." He grinned, and she pressed a kiss to his
nose.
"'Kay..."
Spike lifted the petite blonde and set
her on her feet. Together, with the
quietly chattering blonde pair leading the way, hand-in-hand, the four left the
enclosure.
The End
A/N
- I think I'd like to make a series (all human) out of this ficlet. It's just too cute a character turn to resist
- what do you guys think?
Favourite fiction? Let me know!
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since 30th Aug 03!